Jeremiah 46 (GNV)

1The wordes of the Lord, which came to Ieremiah the Prophet against the Gentiles,This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet

2As against Egypt, against ye armie of Pharaoh Necho King of Egypt, which was by the riuer Perath in Carchemish, which Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel smote in the fourth yere of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah.concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:

3Make readie buckler and shielde, and goe forth to battell.“Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!

4Make readie the horses, and let the horsemen get vp, and stande vp with your sallets, fourbish the speares, and put on the brigandines.Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!

5Wherefore haue I seene them afraid, and driuen backe? for their mighty men are smitten, and are fled away, and looke not backe: for feare was rounde about, sayeth the Lord.Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.

6The swift shall not flee away, nor the strong man escape: they shall stumble, and fall towarde the North by the riuer Perath.“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.

7Who is this, that commeth vp, as a flood, whose waters are mooued like the riuers?Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?

8Egypt riseth vp like the flood, and his waters are mooued like the riuers, and he sayth, I wil goe vp, and will couer the earth: I wil destroy the citie with them that dwell therein.Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people.’

9Come vp, ye horses, and rage ye charets, and let the valiant men come foorth, the blacke Mores, and the Lybians that beare the shield, and the Lydians that handle and bend the bowe.Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.

10For this is the day of ye Lord God of hostes, and a day of vengeance, that he may auenge him of his enemies: for the sworde shall deuoure, and it shall be saciate, and made drunke with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the North countrey by the Riuer Perath.For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

11Goe vp vnto Gilead, and take balme, O virgine, the daughter of Egypt: in vaine shalt thou vse many medicines: for thou shalt haue no health.Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.

12The nations haue heard of thy shame, and thy crie hath filled the lande: for the strong hath stumbled against the strong and they are fallen both together.The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”

13The woorde that the Lord spake to Ieremiah the Prophet, howe Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babel shoulde come and smite the lande of Egypt.This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

14Publish in Egypt and declare in Migdol, and proclaime in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, and say, Stand still, and prepare thee: for the sworde shall deuoure rounde about thee.“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’

15Why are thy valiant men put backe? they could not stand, because the Lord did driue them.Why have your warriors been laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

16Hee made many to fall, and one fell vpon another: and they saide, Arise, let vs goe againe to our owne people, and to the land of our natiuitie from the sworde of the violent.They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’

17They did cry there, Pharaoh King of Egypt, and of a great multitude hath passed the time appointed.There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’

18As I liue, saith the King, whose Name is the Lord of hostes, surely as Tabor is in the mountaines, and as Carmel is in the sea: so shall it come.As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

19O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, make thee geare to goe into captiuitie: for Noph shall be waste and desolate, without an inhabitant.Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.

20Egypt is like a faire calfe, but destruction commeth: out of the North it commeth.Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

21Also her hired men are in the middes of her like fat calues: they are also turned backe and fled away together: they could not stand, because the day of their destruction was come vpon them, and the time of their visitation.Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.

22The voyce thereof shall goe foorth like a serpent: for they shall march with an armie, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.

23They shall cut downe her forest, saith the Lord: for they cannot be counted, because they are moe then ye grashoppers, and are innumerable.They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

24The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded: she shall be deliuered into the handes of the people of the North.The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”

25Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Behold, I will visite the common people of No and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their Kings, euen Pharaoh, and al them that trust in him,The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh.

26And I will deliuer them into the handes of those, that seeke their liues, and into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel, and into the handes of his seruants, and afterwarde she shall dwell as in the olde time, saith the Lord.I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.

27But feare not thou, O my seruant Iaakob, and be not thou afraid, O Israel: for behold, I will deliuer thee from a farre countrey, and thy seede from the land of their captiuitie, and Iaakob shall returne and be in rest, and prosperitie, and none shall make him afraid.But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.

28Feare thou not, O Iaakob my seruant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee, and I will vtterly destroy all the nations, whither I haue driuen thee: but I will not vtterly destroy thee, but correct thee by iudgement, and not vtterly cut thee off.And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Jeremiah 46

Judgment on Egypt